


Clinging to not getting sentimental

by BadassCmd



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, BUT I LOVE THEM, F/F, This is so innocent it's gross
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-05-23 10:51:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6114230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadassCmd/pseuds/BadassCmd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes affection is all about the small gestures and understanding comes from affection</p><p>or: It takes Lexa and Raven 5 months, but they grow together</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from: Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent

 

A distinct knocking somewhere in the shop caught Raven's attention.

A muffled voice called her name.

"Just a minute" she said as clear as possible, thinking that from her current position it must be hard for her visitor to understand her. She was laying underneath a Rover, a car way too rustic for a city driver but with more charm than any of the cars she usually got to work on.  
It was pretty uncomfortable climbing right to the point she was working on, even with a rolling board underneath her body, so she rather finished it up now than waste the time getting out and then going back later for it. She didn't have an appointment scheduled for the rest of the day anyways, so it couldn't be that important.

 

When she finally got up at the side of the Rover close to the back wall of her garage, she had the chance of a picture one wouldn't come across every day.

Brown waves showed between the machines across the room. Lexa Woods, stoic poli sci badass, was standing there not only with her hands clenched tight at a big paper bag, but also turning to all sides, probably searching for the origin of her voice, with a confused expression on her face.

 

"What's up, Commander?" Raven greeted and stepped out into view. Rubbing her hands on her uniform to get as much of the grease from her hands as possible, she walked over to the girl in question.

"Raven, hello" came the stern as usual answer from the brunette.

Lexa has been living with her sister Anya in the apartment building close to ARK University for five months now and in that time - after a rough start none of them talked about anymore - became close to Raven and her roommates Octavia and Clarke from next door.

  
Especially since Clarke and Anya started hooking up frequently - and obviously falling for each other which none of the them wanted to admit yet - Raven's blonde best friend grew inseparably to the Woods sisters. Of course Raven and Octavia tagged along there and even though none of the Woods was really openly affectionate, Clarke liked to point out that they've become like a big family now.

"Hello yourself. Sorry, but your sister's machine isn't ready yet. Mayor Kane's car got in this morning and my boss wants me to get it ready by tomorrow, so I had to delay the bike until after that" the mechanic shot when coming to stand in front of the younger Woods. She nodded to the side, where Anya's cherry red motor cycle was positioned.

  
Anya wasn't a problem. It didn't take long to get a picture from her way of acting around them.

Lexa though, Lexa was really something. Five months and still Raven didn't really feel like she understood Lexa. At all.

Anya was hard on the outside, always playing like she didn't care for anything in the world. But in fact it was easy to see that she cared deeply, just wanted no one to know. She was loud and almost as creative with sassy remarks as Raven was praised to be. She was also insanely smart and always started off being annoyed but then joined Octavia in calling out the bullshit in the movies they all watched together.

It also wasn't possible to get to her before midday when she didn't need to get up. Anyone disturbing her would get at least three items thrown at their head with amazingly aimed thrusts before they could even think to say something. But somehow she always knew when it was Clarke slipping into her bedroom in the morning after breakfast with the girls and Lexa. They never heard any complaints then.

It might not be an exact psychological profil she had in mind of Anya, but it were a lot of little details that made her who she was in Raven's mind.

 

Lexa was similar to her sister in so many ways, but still not the same at all.

Lexa wasn't hard, she was calm. Like she was always waiting for someone to dare come at her only to defeat them with a trained death stare.

Where Anya was intimidating, Lexa clearly seemed the more dangerous one.

Lexa never talked about her family or friends from high school or anything personal. They didn't expect her to share her life story, but she always wondered what got her so closed off in the first place. If it was just the way she was, of if there were reasons beyond.

At times she would roll her eyes when Raven was being especially silly with Clarke and Octavia, maybe even call them childish, but then Raven would look at her at the right moment and not see annoyance in them, but something different. Something like envy, which made the mechanic question what exactly it was holding the girl back from letting her guard down, even around her friends and family.

She would always be the first one up in the morning and make breakfast in her and Anya's apartment for everyone - mostly because she didn't feel comfortable using their key to let herself in the three girls place when they were asleep, even though they said countless times that it was alright and even though Anya made use of it the same way the girls did it vise versa.

Sometimes she would prompt Octavia for competitions in their insane morning runs and be playful and tease the girl when she lost.

Others she would sit in her room for hours and Anya would tell them to leave her be, that she didn't want any company or to see anyone that day.

And she liked Lexa - all of them did. She was amazingly smart and generous and overall a good person and they all enjoyed spending time with her.

But Raven could never tell how she would act the next day or the next situation. She was different than anyone she had ever met. And she would never admit it, but it bothered her to no end that she had no idea what went on in that stupid beautiful head of Lexa's.

 

Lexa shook her head. "That's not a problem. I didn't come here to pick it up anyways."

"What brings you to this rough corner of the city then?", Raven asked with a raised eyebrow, but friendly.

The confused look came back to Lexa's face. "Rough corner? Raven, this place is literally 100 foot away from Town Hall and located in the most uprising part of the Town. They have actual trees on the side of the road. Also it's only five minutes from ARK U so-"

"I know, Commander." she laughed. "Never mind, what brings you here?"

 

At that, Lexa bit her lip slightly and seemed to be lost of words for the first time in as long as Raven had known her.

 

She then held out the bag in her hands to the brunette.

"You weren't there for breakfast this morning and since you always get back to the apartment starving at night even when you ate with us because you obviously forget to eat lunch while you're working, I thought I'd bring you something. Was on my way, you know."

"Oh" Raven let out surprised and took the bag that was practically shoved into her chest. "Thank you."

She opened it warily to be greeted not by one, but three boxes with the stamp of the diner they liked to order from on their movie nights on them.

 

"You never order the same thing twice so I didn't know which kind of noodles were your favorite", Lexa explained awkwardly and got a bright grin from Raven for it when she put the bag on the nearby desk to clean her hands properly from the grease at the sink.

"That is still a bit over the top, but I appreciate it" Raven chuckled. "You're staying, right?"

Lexa hesitated, but nodded then.

 

They sat down on the next best things they could find. Raven brought by an actual wooden stool she had no idea where it came from and what it was doing in the shop for Lexa. She then sat down on the edge of the desk, positioning herself opposite of the other girl.

Eagerly she grabbed the plastic forks and the first container in the bag and handed it to Lexa before taking one for herself. The noodles were still steaming and she couldn't wait to shove a full portion into her mouth. There was a reason after all that they ordered at Dropship's all the time.

"Damn, this is good." A low moan escaped her at the taste of the Diner's special hot sauce. It clearly showed now that she hadn't eaten anything since the evening before.

Lexa nodded, but didn't say anything in return. The mechanic believed to witness a slight redness to her cheeks when she looked over, but she also could have imagined that.

 

Raven liked the silence and she had a feeling that Lexa appreciated it even more.

The two of them hadn't really spend time together alone before - only in the rare occasions when Clarke and Anya were doing the nasty and Octavia and whoever else of their friends had come by to make use of their apartment were asleep on the couch and Lexa and Raven were the only ones left, Lexa starting to clean up and Raven offering her help by emptying the open wine bottles and commentating the state of everyone loudly.

Not that Raven wouldn't have liked to get to know Lexa better besides the others, it just never really happened naturally.

 

At one point Raven held out her container to the girl in front of her and wordless, Lexa switched with her to taste the other variation she had bought.

 

"You know" Lexa started quietly, "It wouldn't be trouble for me to grab something for lunch every once in awhile and stop by on my way home. You seem to be stuck working that late all the time"  
It was clear she tried to make it sound casually, but Raven saw right through her.

"You really flatter me, Lex." At the questioning look she earned, she added: "No one should like it in this dark dusty garage enough to come here to eat lunch willingly, and I survived the last two years working here without eating lunch, so I guess it must be my wit and beauty drawing you here, right?."

Usually the younger Woods would shut her down with a comment about her being too full of her herself right away and she didn't expect her to react any other way.

"Maybe you are right" the other one offered with a smirk instead and for a moment, Raven was taken aback.

Lexa added then: "Or maybe you're not. Maybe it's just because I keep walking in on Clarke and Anya banging when I get home on days they only have morning lectures. Maybe I just need a much calmer place to eat then the cafeteria or being with your much to cheerful roommates all the time."

She shrugged.

 

The mechanic decided that the statement was enough for her anyways.

"Come by as often as you want." She gestured widely to the open space of the garage with her elegant white plastic fork. "Mi casa es su casa, Commander."

Lexa made a face at that. "Don't always call me that"

Raven was close to just burst out a speech about the honor of wearing a strong nickname like that, but then had a better idea.

"I will stop if you do one thing for me too."

Lexa didn't answer, but nodded her head to prompt the mechanic to go on.

 

"Turn down the broody face that makes you getting called the Commander a bit around here. I like to think that pretty girls instinctively want to smile or at least look seductively in my presence, don't ruin my ego with your stoic mask."

Lexa looked a little bit stunned for a second, but then she rolled her eyes and couldn't help a small smile forming on her lips.

 

Content, Raven grabbed a fork and opened up the third container from the bag. They ate in silence for most of it, only stealing glances at each other from time to time.

 

Maybe she didn't understand Lexa as much as she hoped she would, not yet. But maybe she didn't need to in order to be close to her.

And maybe the feeling spreading inside of her, coming from the knowledge that Lexa might be dark and brooding and closed up, but chose to come here and find peace and quiet in Raven's presence, showed that she could actually be the one to truly understand the mystery that was Lexa Woods some day.

 

"Thank you for lunch, honestly."

"Don't mention it. Feeling like mexican tomorrow?"

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this will slowly transform to Raven and Lexa being low key domestic as fuck.
> 
> Also, Lexa was supposed to lose the following argument, but the girl outsmarted me.

"Are you still not going to change your opinion on that? Even after I just let my rice get cold over explaining to you why you are wrong for thirty minutes?"

"Not a chance" she simply said and wanted to end the ridiculous subject with that, but Raven's incredulous facial expression made her go further: "Alright, how about this: I do understand that she is very unlikeable, I am just saying that her actions are far more reasonable then the ones of Snape and the Dursleys. Because _they_ were acting out of jealousy and ages old grudges and those are in no way valuable reasons for bullying and child neglect, which makes them worse for me, especially counting their long term influence on a minor in their care."

"You're being the unreasonable one here." Raven pouted and thought back at all of her arguments from the last 20 minutes again, ready to repeat everything.

"And you are too stubborn to let me have my own opinion."

"Lex, you can have your own opinion on literally everything else - but not something as globally agreed on as Umbridge being the biggest bitch in the Harry Potter World!?"

 

Lexa let out a huff of disapproval.

"Just because many people agree on something doesn't mean it is the truth. You can agree on _that_ , right?"

Raven bit her lip, trying to not show her defeat too much. But she nodded. There was too much shit going wrong in the world because the majority of people agreed on something that made others suffer.

 

"Good, then shut up about that now or I won't offer you the last spring roll. Is Dolores Umbridge's title as biggest bitch really worth losing a spring roll?"

Raven leaned over and grabbed the roll from the box on Lexa's knees. She took a bite and shrugged to show the girl that she would leave it.

"You fight dirty, Woods."

She would still keep her arguments in mind to outsmart her on another day though.

 

Lexa tried to look annoyed, but it didn't work as good as she thought it was. Not anymore. Not after months of low key studying her and now three weeks of shared lunch time.

It made Raven think back to the first impression Lexa had made after moving into the apartment next to them.

Never would she have thought that they would get used to them like that. To see Anya sit in her living room in the mornings, sipping coffee from the _I'm fucking Clarke Griffin_ Mug the blonde had made her to fit with her own version _I'm_ _Clarke fucking Griffin_. Or that it was possible to get into an argument over Harry Potter characters with the brunette. Or even to make the Woods sisters binge watch all eight movies with them - twice.

 

She chuckled and it earned a questioning look from the other brunette over her carton of rice with fried chicken and vegetables.

 

"You wanna know how we called you, back in the day - when you were the enemy in our feud and would give us death glares from across the hall and Octavia would sit in the damp cellar all day with a baseball bat to protect our laundry from being dyed pink again?"

"Okay?" Lexa asked and couldn't help wrinkling her nose, sensing she won't like the answer.

 

" _Commander Hot Stuff_ " the mechanic said, "because even when thinking we got the worst neighbors possible and hating your guts we couldn't deny how damn good the god of genes had been to you and your sister."

 

Lexa answered automatically:  "We're not even genetically related. I'm adopted, so that doesn't make any sense."

Raven shrugged. "So they chose a baby with an equally perfect gene set for the family, doesn't change a thing"

The younger Woods rolled her eyes at that.

 

"How did you call Anya then?"

Raven grinned.

" _Cheekbones_."

"Well, that is not fair at all. Why did I have to be the Commander and Anya gets a perfectly  reasonable nickname?"

"Because I chose yours and Octavia named your sis. I definitely had called her _'Big Wood'_ or something equally as ingenious ambiguous."

She hadn't really thought about it before, but now the mechanic was a bit proud that she came up with that. Maybe they could still change it. Clarke would probably even like it - Anya not so much, unless they were as kinky in the bedroom as Raven and Octavia bet on.

"Well, I would have preferred her to be _'Big Wood'_ too" Lexa said with a small pout that Raven was dying to take a picture off to prove that the other girl was actually capable of doing something like that. She looked so much less intimidating like that. She looked adorable. And Raven couldn't stop herself from thinking that it was one of the things other people might never get to see from the girl.

 

She grinned and got back to her food.

She had to admit, since Lexa started visiting her she felt much better - it seemed like her insane eating schedule from before had really messed up her balance. She felt like she could focus better in general and she was in a much better mood when starting the second half of her work day afterwards - in comparison to before when there was just a work day and not a first and a second part of it.

Of course Lexa had a lot of work herself with her double major and with her taking her responsibility to be prepared for lectures every damn day so serious, so she didn't manage to come by every day. But still Raven found herself looking forward to seeing Lexa appear in her doorway or to get texts from the brunette asking what kind of food to bring all the time.

It had a certain domestic feeling to it, but still it wasn't like living with the girls felt like. She did grow up with Clarke and O after all, maybe it was really just that. But she wouldn't complain.

And because her work was flawless Sinclair didn't mind her having people over or taking some liberties  - not that many people had the time or urge to see her during work, especially when they already spend every second together when they weren't working or studying anyways.

One time the week before Lexa had brought Clarke with her when the two of them met in the library between classes and Lexa asked her if she was hungry too. And one afternoon when Lexa didn't step in Raven decided to take off a few hours early and ordered everyone to get to the bar to have drinks within the hour. But seeing how much she was packed with work, something like that wouldn't happen again anytime soon.

And the weekends were for party time anyways. Within the week, she just wanted to enjoy the calm and the easiness she felt in Lexa's company. Even when the Woods girl wasn't the model picture of serenity, it was the kind of influence being around her alone had on the energized mechanic. And she really hoped that whatever Lexa was looking for when she came to the dusty place three weeks ago, she was able to help her with that.

 

 

"Reyes?" a muffled voice called out through their relaxing silence.

 

The girl swore under her breath, thinking that maybe if she'd just ignore it, they'd leave again. She loved her work, but she also wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to her downtime yet.

But then a head appeared in her sight. A blonde figure walked over to them from the door that separated the front half of the shop and the bigger garage space that Raven usually worked in.

 

"Reyes" he greeted and nodded to Lexa who didn't bother to say anything to him either.

"What are you doing here, Wick? I told you I'd send someone to get the papers tomorrow" Raven said, not even trying to hide her annoyance of him being in her personal space.

Some time ago her boss had agreed to a joined project to design and install a kind of new age filtering and energy system for the city's socio-economic science center.

And now, a few months after he signed the contract, the project was in full process and a deadline was set. Weather Inc had sent scientists and people working in environmental research, Ark Station Corporation had put two of their engineers in charge and Sinclair had set Raven to work on it with him and the additional team of the council had put together. It was a major opportunity for them to make their work known internationally and to please the important people who would be in charge of making the decision when she was done with her major and would apply for NASA. It also paid pretty good.

But the one big downside to the whole thing was working with the mentioned team, especially damn Kyle Wick. She couldn't stand the guy and still he seemed to be only one always up in her business since the actual work on the installment started.

 

"The prototype you sent needs to be worked on and Sinclair wants us to fix the mistakes of version 1.0 together." the man explained.

"I have no mistakes in my prototype."

Technically she had 10 minutes of break left and she didn't feel like spending them with some arrogant half brain. But he didn't look like he wanted to leave her alone any time soon.

"Well there _are_ some" Wick gave back and folded his arms. Raven now stood up and faced him, anger starting to burn in her about his ruse interruption and his accusation.

"Then it's in your lazy ass design. I told you right from the beginning that if you want it to be-"

He motioned to the still open door behind him.

"Will you just shut up and come look at the adjustments I already made? We will sit here until tomorrow if we don't start right away-"

"Wait, did you just say you made _adjustments_ to my prototype without consulting me first? Are you kidding me?"

"I am trying to consult you right now, I am?" the man threw into her sentence, but she didn't even take a breath and continued to rant at him: "What the fuck Wick? If you messed it up I will kick your a-"

 

"Raven!" came the stern voice of her boss Sinclair from the door. She sounded tired and rubbed his knuckles. "Stop fighting about this. We need to get this part ready by Friday, in case you forgot."

The younger mechanic groaned but nodded.

 

She turned to the Lexa who had already stood up and packed their containers while she was fighting with the intruder.

"Guess break's over" Raven grumbled. "Thanks, Lex."

Lexa nodded and looked at the watch on her wrist. It was already 4pm. Usually the mechanic stayed at the shop until 8 or 9pm, but from the look of it she could sense Raven taking an all-nighter with the engineer and her boss.

"Take care" she said earnestly. "See you tomorrow."

 

Raven sighed and made a face behind his back while Wick already went on talking again. But she didn't listen to a word he said. His designs sucked anyways.

She waved to Lexa who grabbed her bag and jacket from the wooden bench Raven had found in a nearby second hand shop - not to make their lunches more comfortable, but because she could always use an additional deposit surface or a space to nap on when doing all-nighters, as she liked to tell herself.

She couldn't help rolling her eyes while following the engineer and show her friend how unhappy she was about this coalition and how much she didn't value his opinions. Lexa exited the garage through the back entrance as usual. She left with an amused expression on her face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of a filler, but it was important to me to have it.  
> The next one will be longer and we will even change locations!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I apologize for letting this hanging there for so long.  
> I HAD an excuse, I finished my Bachelors degree in Literature - BUT even for that it took way too long.  
> And when I got back and wanted to finish this chapter, it took a turn I didn't want to take with this, so I had to rewrite it.
> 
> And then I wanted to first finish the whole story before posting the net chapter, but now that it is the anniversary of what shall not be named, I just felt like I needed to post this today.

 

"I am not smitten!" she exclaimed as soon as the door of the apartment shut.

 

"Clarkey, I love you, you know that. But that you and Anya don't want to call yourself 'girlfriends' makes your whole behavior even more disgusting. Believe me, I know smitten" Octavia waited one dramatically filled second before she added: "And you are _smut_!"

 

Clarke sent a skeptical look over to her best friend and placed the bags they brought from the grocery store on the kitchen table.

"Are you quoting _Full House_ again?"

"Are you kidding?" Octavia shook her head in disbelieve, "I have to rewatch 87 more episodes until I can start _Fuller House_ , of course I am quoting _Full House_ again."

She threw her arms up to underline her point.

 

Suddenly a loud groan came from behind them.

 

"Can you shut up over there?" Raven said, her voice muffled, her head not even lifting from the pillows she dragged into the living room.

Clarke and Octavia had to take a few steps closer to her to make out a bunch of brown hair underneath the two blankets and between three pillows their roommate had stocked together as her napping place.

 

"What are you doing there, Ray?"

"Trying to sleep."

"You have a room. With a bed. A bed for you alone. You know that, right?" Octavia said mockingly. The mechanic didn't answer, only buried herself deeper into the comfortably cocoon.

 

Octavia looked over to Clarke with a raised eyebrow and the blonde held up three fingers without commenting.

Three all-nighters did Raven do this week alone. The past few days must have been hell for her.

And when Raven felt like shit, she couldn't lay in her bed alone.

 

Clarke nodded over to their kitchen corner and retreated to unpack the groceries.

Octavia mouthed a 'thank you' before climbing onto the couch and sinking down next to the bulge that seemed to be Raven's body.

She took the exhausted form into her arms and closed her eyes. Slowly she felt Ravens breathing slow down.

 

A little later Clarke joined them. She carefully lifted the two girls legs and sat down on the end of the couch. She placed their legs back onto her knees and grabbed the drawing pad she brought to do some sketches while they rested. Her left hand moved the pencil over the paper, the right one gently stroked small circles on the ankle of Raven's good leg.

 

That's how they spent their Friday evening.

 

Saturday was always their favorite. The college girls didn't have classes, Raven rarely had to go to the garage on Saturdays, they could go out and they all kept their responsibilities for the hung over filled Sunday.

This Saturday Anya stumbled out of Clarke's room and earned a raised eyebrow from Raven for the first time in months because she definitely hadn't been in their apartment when they all moved to bed at 2am.

But the older Woods didn't comment, just made two coffee's and left the kitchen in direction of where she came from.

 

They didn't see her or Clarke again until noon, when Octavia had already finished her work out routine and stuffed her face with Ben and Jerry's afterwards and Raven watched half a season of _Wynonna Earp_.

It might have been later if Anya didn't have to leave to pick up some things for her boss and then help set up for the night at the club downtown she worked at a few times a month as a bartender.

 

"So, Ray, are you coming tonight?" Octavia asked when taking a bite out of an apple, sitting on the kitchen counter.

They had all types of themed parties and usually Anya only asked them when something especially hideous was going down that night so she wouldn't suffer alone.

That's why Raven was wary.

After the week she had she could imagine a more pleasant evening than being around grown men in pumpkin and turkey costumes like on Thanksgiving or the one night where they decided to not sell anything but Tequila and everyone ended up sleeping in the subway station.

 

"Nah, I'm busy"

" _Please_ ", the other girl burst out and looked at her from the side skeptically, "What are you busy with? Especially without _us_?"

 

The mechanic let the spoon pop out of her mouth.

"You should know that I have friends who are much cooler than you nerds"

"Says the nerd who freaks out about NASA updates on Twitter"

"Whatever. I just don't feel like it" she gave back and folded walked over to her room, not wanting to explain herself any further.

 

"Funny", Clarke said, drawing their attention to the open living room space where their roommate had been painting most of the morning. And as much as Raven loved her, the smirking glance her friend shot at her right now made her want to punch her. "That's the exact same thing Lexa said."

Octavia turned back to the Latina, eyes slightly wider than before.

"Is that so" she mumbled grinning.

 

"Your point being?" the mechanic asked annoyed and tried to put on a neutral expression in front of her consistent roommates.

Clarke sat down next to Octavia at the counter, her eyes scanning the mechanic curiously. "You're spending a lot of time together lately."

"No we're not"

"Yes you are" the blonde insisted.

"Is that how we're going to talk to each other from now on?"

As an answer O stuck her tongue out and the mechanic shook her head.

"Very mature", she mumbled under her breath. Her roommates knew better than to push the subject.

 

They left her alone for exactly three hours and twelve minutes.

 

"RAAAYYY"

"For the last freaking time: I will NOT wear that horrible ABBA overall" she shouted to the closed door her roommates were banging at.

"And you guys would never consider it either if it wasn't for Clarke's sex driven bi ass!"

"You love my sex driven bi ass!" the blonde's voice came back to her instantly.

 

She turned up the volume of her TV once more to make a point.

The banging stopped and the door that she didn't even lock up in the first place opened slowly. Clarke's head appeared in her sight and half of a orange glittery collar.

 

"Are you sure or are you just playing so we drag you out and you can hide that you want to be a dancing queen?"

"I'm serious"

"Do you want us to stay in? We could order Chinese and watch reality TV, too?"

"No, just go and have fun and you can come cuddle when you get home" Clarke nodded.

 

The door closed and barely two minutes later her girls shouted their goodbye's from the front door.

 

_But it only took them a few minutes - probably just the time to leave the building and enter the cab - until her phone started to buzz repeatedly._

_Ray you old maid._

_At least go to Lexa and don't spent your Saturday doing nothing._

_You nerd_

_We're telling on you_

_To Anya and Bellamy and all the cool people who go out on Saturdays to celebrate their week's victories!_

 

She knew they didn't actually want to annoy her. Simply push her.

Still she threw her phone on the bed sheets and left the apartment. One point they were right with. Spending Saturday night alone in her room after finishing a big project was not her style.

 

Two doors over she walked right into the Woods residence.

Both their apartment doors were usually not locked when they were at home since everyone was walking from one to another all the time. She didn't even bother to put on shoes.

 

She crossed the familiar living room and sank down ungracefully onto the couch.

Lexa had been standing in the kitchen washing dishes when the other brunette stormed in and could only turn in confusion at the sound of the door slamming and the footsteps following. She watched over the counter separating the cooking and the living room area how the mechanic made herself at home without any greeting.

Her visitor let out an exaggerated sigh as soon as her body met the couch.

For a few seconds no one said a word.

 

"Your friends are exhausting and beyond annoying, you know that?"

 

"Clarke and Octavia?"

Lexa simply asked while walking over to the second part of the room with a rug trying to dry off her hands.

Raven grumbled her confirmation.

 

"So they are my friends now?"

"When they are exhausting and annoying, yes they are. Also, if we're divorcing or one of us moves away, I will keep Anya and you get the little ones."

 

Lexa smirked. "So we're married now and your best friends are our children?"

 

Definitely something the mechanic should have seen coming. For a moment her mind raced in searching for a good comeback, then she resigned and just shrugged.

"Feels like it sometimes, doesn't it? With all the time we spend taking care of them and lecturing them when they fuck up?"

 

"Yeah you'd be such a responsible parent, Miss _I can make it go boom_ Reyes" Lexa laughed and Raven couldn't help but smile brightly at her, like every time she got a genuine laugh out of the silent girl.

 

Lexa shook her head and turned back to the kitchen. "Now get up, help me out"

 

When she joined her friend in the cozy kitchen bay, Lexa held out the rug to her and nodded to the already cleaned up pans at the counter, while she sank her hands back into the sink filled with warm water.

Raven really didn't mind and complied the wordless command. A now familiar silence came over them while they worked shoulder on shoulder.

 

Washing dishes, just like every other kind of house work, was a disaster at her own apartment.

Octavia would whine that she doesn't want to wash, only to dry the clean stuff, even though they had agreed to take turns.

Clarke would argue that it wasn't really necessary yet, that they could leave it be for another day or two easily.

And Raven, Raven would have a hard time because it sure wasn't her favorite activity for an afternoon either and she was so tempted to leave it be but also they would all hate themselves if the stuff would start to stink and they would be left without dishes to cook and eat in and just start eating take out for another week simply because then it would be too much to wash at once and they were lazy shits after all. Being a student really was an adventure.

 

And still she ended up here, feeling content with handling Lexa's and Anya's dishes and humming to herself.

Because even stupid housework felt important and worth the time when she could look at Lexa's profile and admire the way she tilted her head to the side and glanced in concentration while holding up freshly cleaned plates to see if she missed anything.

Her fingers were working precise and smooth.

 

Her mind was just wandering to what good those slender, perfectly manicured fingers could do in other situations when a loud shatter ripped her out of the fantasy.

Lexa made a small jump to the side too and both of them ended up looking down to the ground, dumbfounded, at the pan that had been in Raven's hand only seconds ago. She felt her cheeks burn up when she realized how far she had been gone and hurried to kneel down to get the pan before the brunette could notice anything.

Of course - because it was still her life and she couldn't just function like she wanted to, pain rushed through her hip the moment she bent her knee a certain angle. She couldn't help a groan escaping her.

 

Lexa looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

She looked worried, but her eyes lacked the sparkle of pity that Raven seemed to find in every face she looked at since her accident. Lexa didn't say anything, but the question was obvious.

"I'm fine. " she said with a grumpy undertone and grabbed the plate from Lexa's hands, going back to work to prove her point.

 

Lexa nodded.

She knew the pain would go away eventually, but not right away. She tried not to put too much of her weight on it and finished her task with the usual stubbornness.

When the last plate dried out, Lexa took the rug out of her hands.

"Go sit," she said, not leaving any room for any contradictions, pointing to the living room.

The younger one did as told while Lexa moved around to put away the clean dishes.

 

When she joined Raven on their couch, handing her one of two glasses of water she brought, Raven said with annoyance in her voice: "I forget it sometimes, very rarely. I mean I built the most awesome brace, best I have to get around. And then something like that happens and back we are."

Lexa nodded in understanding. They sipped on their water and Raven sank a bit further in the comfortable cushions Anya had bought.

"Hey Raven" Lexa started cautiously.

"Yeah?"

 

"Can I take a look?"

Raven tensed instantly, but Lexa held up her hands, motioning her to hold on. "Hey, wait. Look, I know you are not comfortable with anyone touching your leg. But I also know you don't go to physical therapy like you should and I just think I might be able to ease some of the pain, at least for tonight. I spend half of high school patching up Anya and taking care of all her lacrosse injuries and managing her physical therapy since she is just as much of an stubborn ass as you are"

Raven had listened to her the whole time without moving a muscle. She hadn't said anything about her leg to any of the Woods before - that it was fucked up, yes, that she was in an accident, yes, but not about her surgeries or therapy.

The mechanic swallowed.

"You think I’m an ass?" she said to make herself get out of her own tension.

 

Lexa shook her head.

"Of course that what you would take out of that. But yes" she laughed quietly. "So can you do me a favor and snap out of your stubbornness for five minutes? I swear you will feel better and we never have to talk about it again"

"Okay", Raven said slowly and moved down to lose up the straps of the leg brace. Since she was wearing sweat pants she could easily move them up her thigh to expose her leg. She moved it into Lexa's lap herself while the other girl was watching her.

Lexa shot her another look, asking for permission with her eyes.

She nodded again and bit her lip a bit when the other girl first touched it.

 

She started slowly to see if Raven wanted to back out.

But she didn't. Although she took deep breaths and kept her eyes intensely on the slender fingers working on her skin, beginning on her ankle. She seemed so skilled and used to doing this that Raven had to ask herself how much Anya must have thrown herself into the game in school to get injured frequently.

 

"You said you patched Anya up all the time?"

Lexa nodded.

"Did she develop a masochistic streak in puberty or something?"

Lexa laughed.

"She was always rough in the game. But I bet her opponents wouldn't have labeled her a masochist"

 

A few seconds she just kept working.

Raven looked down and took a breath. Realized that slowly, the pressure she felt in the area right above her scar started to ease.

 

"Congratulation, by the way. To finishing the prototype to the first deadline"

"Thanks" Raven said with fondness and obvious relieve.

Lexa's hands stilled for the first time, now laying right above her scar.

 

She looked up at Raven.

"We wanted to come by to say that yesterday with a bottle wine but you were all kinda passed out"

"Oh yeah" she laughed "really needed that"

"Feeling better now?"

“Very much”

 

She started to move her fingers again. Raven couldn't feel any pain in this moment, only her aching heart.

And the warmth of Lexa on her skin.

"People always talk about what sleep deprivation does to you, but only after I slept for 14 hours now I realized what a zombie I must have been"

"You weren't so bad" Lexa moved back down to her knee and her ankle and then she stopped.

Raven set her pants straight again and pulled her leg off Lexa.

 

"I feel better" the mechanic said again, quietly.

"Yeah, me too" Lexa added and they both meant more with it than the exhausting week they had.

 

Raven fasted up her brace again with near automatic movements and moved the leg a bit to test out the feeling before sinking back into the comfortable pillows next to her friend.

 

“And you are not out to let the girls pay for your drinks all night?”

“Nah, I can still make them pay for my food tomorrow when we order in from at least three different places” she grinned.

“I understand” Lexa said smirking while her eyes scanned her living room and kitchen isle.

 

"So, you wanna do it now?"

 

Raven's head shot up. "What?"

 

Lexa tilted her head to the side, a slight confusion in her expression.

“Have a glass of wine? To celebrate?"

 

Raven blushed and was quick to shoot "Definitely, yeah"

 

The younger Woods left for the kitchen isle and returned with two glasses and a bottle that sure looked more expensive than the wine she saw in the supermarket when she and the girls passed it to get to the cheap booze.

Raven just watched her again as she opened up the bottle with concentration and poured the red liquid for them. She handed one over to her guest and held up her own glass.

 

“So we toast to... to your hard work that will pay off when NASA sees your skill”

Raven nodded.

Lexa waited a second before letting their glasses touch.

“And to showing off that Douche from Weather Inc?”

Raven laughed. “To showing of that Douche Wick” she agreed. “And I sure hope for Sinclair to approve me some nice Ark Station Corporations toys for the shit I put up with on this project so far”

 

She took a sip and had to find it was much better than she expected. Red wine would surely never be her beverage of choice, but sitting here, close to Lexa on the cozy couch, sipping wine – it kinda felt exactly right.

She took another sip, sighing content.

“It’s funny isn’t it”, she mumbled then and looked back to Lexa. “That usually we sit on uncomfortable wooden chairs and boxes together and eat take out from the cartons in a dirty garage and now we are here, with fancy wine and neatly scrubbed fingers from washing dishes” She laughed at the last part.

“Oh” Lexa said surprised. “I didn’t even think about that. But you are right, seem like quite the opposites how we spend the weekly afternoons and now the Saturday evening”

 

“Good thing that the important aspect doesn’t change” Raven said, smiling but lightly playing with the handle of her glass with her fingers.

“And that would be?”

 

“The company”

 

Lexa was taken back for a second. Her cheeks felt warm and she wished she would have had more of the wine so she would not feel stupid about it.

“I enjoy the company most too” she answered hesitantly and forced herself not to cough and look away from Ravens gaze.

 

“I didn’t think you would want to spend any time with me, before. Alone, I mean”

Raven put a strain of her hair back that had fallen out of her pony tail. She still had the glass in her hands, but didn’t move it or even thought about drinking any more in this moment.

Lexa’s eyes went wide, but she didn’t look away when she said: “I’m sorry if it came across that way. I didn’t really mean to. In fact, I always found it fascinating to talk to you, to hear about the work you do. And actually seeing a bit of it in those past weeks, it was really special to me”

She had put one hand on Raven’s arm without even realizing it.

But Raven did and her skin felt overly sensitive all of a sudden. She didn’t know where this tension had suddenly come from, but it drew her closer to the other brunette.

 

“So... you like my brain, am I getting that right? Cause I can tell you, I appreciate it when people tell me other parts of me are beautiful, too”

She wanted to say it jokingly. She wanted it to be cocky. It wasn’t supposed to come out as a whisper.

 

It wasn’t supposed to sound breathy like that.

 

Lexa seemed to be closer to her, closer in every way, but also physically. She touched Lexa back with her free hand, as if she subconsciously wanted to keep them in this moment.

 

Her skin was hot, her mouth was dry, when Lexa answered her: “But I like every part of you”

 

“Lexa” she said and the name felt never so good on her lips. “I...”

 

A clicking sound broke them out of their tension.

Surprised they looked up and to the door when it flung open, still clinging to each other.

In the doorway of the Woods apartment stood a guy Raven had never seen before.

 

A tall, muscular guy with a bag pack in his hand and a key in the other, seeming as surprised to see them in this place as they were.

 

Lexa was the first to regain her posture. She let go of Ravens arms and stood up from the couch, taking a step closer to the door.

Raven was left rubbing her skin at the places they were now tingling.

 

“Lincoln” Lexa said loudly, her voice sounding a bit rough, like she just overcame a cold. “What are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be another chapter and then a bit Bonus material.  
> Thanks for reading, love y'all
> 
> \-----  
> Visit me on Tumblr: badasscommanderleksa.tumblr.com


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